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Medicare cuts, competing views on overhaul keep health issues hot in campaign

"Obamacare cuts Medicare - cuts Medicare - by approximately $500 billion," Mr. Romney has told audiences. That is a reprise of Republicans' mantra of the 2010 midterm elections, which gave them big gains at both the state and federal levels and a majority in the House.

8 Jul 2012

Research roundup: Crowded emergency departments, expensive HIV drugs, high deductible insurance plans

Skin In The Game: How Consumer-Directed Plans Affect The Cost And Use Of Health Care -- Consumer-directed health plans, which feature lower premiums and higher deductibles than traditional plans, are designed to reduce costs by discouraging unnecessary care. This brief describes a study of more than 800,000 households that switched from a traditional employer-based plan to a consumer-based plan.

7 Jul 2012

Roundup: Feds rank Texas last in health care delivery; Mass. health care costs eat almost 43 percent of state budget

Texas ranked dead last in the federal government's latest report card on the delivery of health services, falling short in areas ranging from acute hospital care to home treatment of the chronically ill. Texas scored 31.61 -- less than half of top-ranked Minnesota's 67.31 -- out of a possible 100 points in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality annual rankings.

7 Jul 2012

It's not over: More legal challenges loom over health law

Legal challenges on the health law's contraception mandate and a new Medicare panel could make for more health law fireworks.

6 Jul 2012

A look at how health policy positions can be politically sold, accurate or not

Marketing experts tackle health policy messaging, as the president campaigns for an ally and news organizations fact-check political claims.

6 Jul 2012

Audit finds wrong part of Medicare was used to pay for hospice patients' drugs

The Medicare program could be paying multiple times for prescription drugs for hospice beneficiaries, a new federal report suggests.

6 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: The Medicaid expansion 'dilemma;' Mandate not the only health tax the GOP backed

Full-time employment is a major reason that able-bodied adults would have incomes above 133 percent of the federal poverty level. If carried out, this expansion is expected to reduce full-time employment among able-bodied adults, because they would no longer need to be employed full time to obtain health insurance.

6 Jul 2012

First Edition: July 5, 2012

Early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including articles on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's statement that the health law individual mandate is a tax.

5 Jul 2012

Live zoster vaccine associated with reduced risk of HZ in patients with immune-mediated diseases

Although some have suggested that patients receiving medication for immune-mediated diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis or psoriasis may be at increased risk of herpes zoster (HZ; shingles) shortly after receipt of the vaccine, an analysis that included nearly 20,000 vaccinated Medicare beneficiaries finds that the live zoster vaccine is not associated with an increased risk of HZ shortly after vaccination in patients currently treated with biologics, and that it is associated with a significantly reduced longer-term risk of HZ in patients with an immune-mediated disease, according to a study in the July 4 issue of JAMA.

4 Jul 2012

For Republicans, undoing the health law could be complicated

GOP leaders face various challenges in their strategy to repeal the health law.

4 Jul 2012

Antidepressant use among seniors: Falling through Medicare's doughnut hole?

A new study links the gap in Medicare Part D coverage and cutbacks by seniors in using this and other medications.

4 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: Coherent GOP plan for health care; Dems need better 'sales pitch' for health law

Hostility toward the Supreme Court has risen sharply since Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. upheld the Obama health care law. People are apparently angry that the court didn't rid them of a law they detest. But that's silly. If Americans want to replace this thing, they should do it themselves. ... Moreover, there are alternatives. Despite what you've read, there is a coherent Republican plan.

4 Jul 2012

Shingles vaccine may not increase risk of varicella in people with auto-immune diseases

New research from the University of Alabama at Birmingham casts doubt on the long-standing belief that the vaccine for shingles should not be given to patients taking biologics for auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.

4 Jul 2012

Dems say it is time to change the subject, but GOP has different plan

Republicans already are demonstrating their strategy to use the health law decision in the upcoming campaign season. Meanwhile, both parties are raising money on the issue.

3 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: Pressure on states to move on exchanges; Roberts' decision holds off new calls for public option

Now that the health care reform law has been ruled constitutional, it is imperative that as many states as possible move aggressively to establish a centerpiece of the reform structure: new insurance policy exchanges for people who lack affordable coverage through an employer. Federal subsidies will be available for those with low or moderate incomes.

3 Jul 2012

Viewpoints: Both parties swinging for the fences on health law decision; GOP once supported universal care; Sarah Palin's latest 'whopper'

The ruling by the Supreme Court to uphold most of the health law has put the controversy squarely back on the parties' agendas for the November elections.

2 Jul 2012

State roundup: Bumpy managed care transition in Calif.

A selection of health policy stories from California, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Minnesota.

2 Jul 2012

Study reinforces CT colonography as a viable option for Medicare-aged patients

A new study of 1,400 Medicare-aged patients reinforces CT colonography as a screening tool for colon cancer, adding to the continued debate over Medicare coverage of the procedure.

2 Jul 2012

Clinical results for Teva's biologic oncology candidates presented at MASCC/ISOO 2012

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today the presentation of clinical results for its biologic oncology candidates, lipegfilgrastim and balugrastim, at the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC)/International Society of Oral Oncology (ISOO) 2012 International Symposium on Supportive Care in Cancer being held in New York June 28-30.

2 Jul 2012

CMMI awards Altarum Institute $8.4 million to curb unnecessary medical imaging

Altarum Institute has received an award of $8.4 million from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to curb unnecessary medical imaging in Southeast Michigan.

2 Jul 2012

Medicare News and Research

Medicare cuts, competing views on overhaul keep health issues hot in campaign

Research roundup: Crowded emergency departments, expensive HIV drugs, high deductible insurance plans

Roundup: Feds rank Texas last in health care delivery; Mass. health care costs eat almost 43 percent of state budget

It's not over: More legal challenges loom over health law

A look at how health policy positions can be politically sold, accurate or not

Audit finds wrong part of Medicare was used to pay for hospice patients' drugs

Viewpoints: The Medicaid expansion 'dilemma;' Mandate not the only health tax the GOP backed

First Edition: July 5, 2012

Live zoster vaccine associated with reduced risk of HZ in patients with immune-mediated diseases

For Republicans, undoing the health law could be complicated

Antidepressant use among seniors: Falling through Medicare's doughnut hole?

Viewpoints: Coherent GOP plan for health care; Dems need better 'sales pitch' for health law

Shingles vaccine may not increase risk of varicella in people with auto-immune diseases

Dems say it is time to change the subject, but GOP has different plan

Viewpoints: Pressure on states to move on exchanges; Roberts' decision holds off new calls for public option

Viewpoints: Both parties swinging for the fences on health law decision; GOP once supported universal care; Sarah Palin's latest 'whopper'

State roundup: Bumpy managed care transition in Calif.

Study reinforces CT colonography as a viable option for Medicare-aged patients

Clinical results for Teva's biologic oncology candidates presented at MASCC/ISOO 2012

CMMI awards Altarum Institute $8.4 million to curb unnecessary medical imaging

Industry Focus eBook - Life Science Microscopy (2nd Edition) eBook

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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